BIRMINGHAM, AL-Join us this Friday night, Oct. 6, at the Central Library for the return of the poetry slam format of Bards & Brews, the Birmingham Public Library’s popular spoken word poetry and craft beer event. The Bards & Brews poetry slam will be a part of BPL’s 2017 Eat Drink Read Write Festival.

The slam will include cash prizes of $300 and $200 for the first and second place winners. BPL will be observing Southern Fried Slam rules for this event. Poets will be competing over three rounds until only two poets remain for the final round. The judges will be chosen from members of the audience.

Sign up list for the Slam will begin at 6:30 pm. The renowned hip-hop group Shaheed & DJ Supreme will be performing live at 6:30 p.m. and poetry will begin to flow just after 7 p.m. Free beer samples will be provided for attendees 21 and up by SweetWater Brewing Co. Babalu and Wishes & Wonders are providing door prizes.

Bards & Brews is free, but attendees must be 18 and older to enter, and 21 or older to drink beer.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT BPL For additional information about the programs and services of the Birmingham Public Library, visit our website at www.bplonline.org and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter @BPL. The mission of Birmingham Public Library is to provide the highest quality library experience to our community for life-long learning, cultural enrichment, and enjoyment. This system—with 19 locations and serving the community for 130 years—is one of the largest library systems in the southeast.